More colleges will see facelifts

Calhoun, Ezra Stiles and Morse colleges will receive more extensive renovations than originally planned, top Yale officials said Tuesday night.

These three colleges will undergo substantial renovations as part of an effort to bring them to the same level as the University’s nine other residential colleges, Yale President Richard Levin said. Although the sequence of construction has not yet been determined, Levin said the projects will likely be undertaken after renovations to Jonathan Edwards College are completed in 2008.

“We recognize that there are now substantial improvements to other colleges and that we really need to broaden the scope of these renovations,” Levin said. “These won’t be small, incremental renovations. These will be major renovations.”

It may be several years before University officers formulate the budget for the projects, Levin said. After the officers submit a proposed budget, the Yale Corporation must give final approval, he said.

The three projects will occur separately. It has not yet been determined whether the renovations of Morse and Stiles could be completed during the summer or during the year, Levin said.

Deputy Provost Chip Long said he thinks the renovations are a positive step.

“Calhoun was in good shape, and the basic infrastructure was fixed, but it hasn’t had anything like the comprehensive renovation on the colleges that have been done since,” Long said. “If we could, even though [Morse and Stiles] are newer and don’t need as much renovation, it would be nice to give them the kind of comprehensive treatment we’ve given the other colleges.”

Since Calhoun was renovated in 1989, before recent extensive renovations were made to residential colleges, the college did not undergo comparable work on its basements to make space for student activities, Long said. Morse and Ezra Stiles colleges do not have basements on par with newly renovated residential colleges either, Long said.

Morse resident Nick Buttrick ’08 said he is pleased with the decision.

“It kind of shows that Yale does care about us after all,” Buttrick said.

Berkeley College resident Alicia Breakey ’08 said she thinks the renovations will help correct the disparity between residential colleges.

“I guess it’s great for them because I think there is kind of a gap between the pretty colleges and the ugly colleges,” Breakey said. “It’s good for them to have the same kind of dorm standards that we have.”

Morsel Rachel Brown ’06 said she is glad the renovations are being made, even though she will not be able to take advantage of the improvements.

“I’m sure it will be really good for the future classes,” Brown said. “I do wish that I could have had new stuff as a sophomore, junior or even as a senior.”

The University must still hire an architect for the project, a process that Levin said usually occurs two and a half years before the project starts.